Jeremiah chapter 3
Jerusalem had its faith, continued. Repent in light of the coming judgment.
JERUSALEM HAD LOST ITS FAITH, CONTINUED
VERSE 1. “They say, ‘If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him, and becomes another man’s, should he return to her again?’ Wouldn’t that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the prostitute with many lovers; yet return again to me,” says the LORD.
should he return to her again. If a couple divorced and the wife married another man, she was prohibited by Law from ever being reunited with her first husband
Deuteronomy 24:4. her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife after she is defiled; for that would be an abomination to the LORD. You shall not cause the land to sin, which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.
VERSE 2. “Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been lain with? You have sat waiting for them by the road, as an Arabian in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and with your wickedness.
VERSE 3. Therefore the showers have been withheld and there has been no latter rain; yet you have had a prostitute’s forehead and you refused to be ashamed.
VERSE 4. Will you not from this time cry to me, ‘My Father, you are the guide of my youth?’
HCSB translation. Have you not lately called to Me, “My Father. You were my friend in my youth.
My Father. Jeremiah refers to God as “Father.” He also uses that word in verse 19 below.
VERSE 5. “ ‘Will he retain his anger forever? Will he keep it to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken and have done evil things, and have had your way.”
NAB translation. Will he keep his wrath forever, will he hold his grudge to the end?” This is what you say; yet you do all the evil you can.
you do all the evil you can. We humans have a tendency to do evil.
Apart from the grace of God, we will do all the evil we can.
REPENT IN LIGHT OF THE COMING JUDGMENT
VERSE 6. Moreover, the LORD said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and has played the prostitute there.
VERSE 7. I said after she had done all these things, ‘She will return to me;’ but she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
VERSE 8. I saw when, for this very cause, that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet treacherous Judah, her sister, had no fear; but she also went and played the prostitute.
VERSE 9. Because she took her prostitution lightly, the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with wood.
VERSE 10. Yet for all this her treacherous sister, Judah, has not returned to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense,” says the LORD.
VERSE 11. The LORD said to me, “Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
VERSE 12. Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, ‘Return, you backsliding Israel,’ says the LORD; ‘I will not look in anger on you; for I am merciful,’ says the LORD. ‘I will not keep anger forever.
I am merciful. Jeremiah proclaims the mercy of the LORD God.
VERSE 13. Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the LORD your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice,’ says the LORD.”
VERSE 14. “Return, backsliding children,” says the LORD; “for I am a husband to you. I will take one of you from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
VERSE 15. I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
NAB translation. I will appoint over you shepherds after my own heart, who will shepherd you wisely and prudently.
shepherds after my own heart. Great shepherds are in love with the LORD God. They seek his heart. They seek him above all else.
wisely and prudently. A great shepherd is wise and prudent.
VERSE 16. It will come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days,” says the LORD, “they will no longer say, ‘the ark of the LORD’s covenant!’ It will not come to mind. They won’t remember it. They won’t miss it, nor will another be made.
VERSE 17. At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The LORD’s Throne;’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the LORD’s name, to Jerusalem. They will no longer walk after the stubbornness of their evil heart.
VERSE 18. In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance to your fathers.
VERSE 19. “But I said, ‘How I desire to put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the armies of the nations!’ and I said, ‘You shall call me “My Father”, and shall not turn away from following me.’
My Father. Jeremiah refers to God as “Father.” He also used that word in verse 4 above.
VERSE 20. “Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so you have dealt treacherously with me, house of Israel,” says the LORD.
NAB translation. But like a woman faithless to her lover, even so you have been faithless to me, O house of Israel, says the LORD.
VERSE 21. A voice is heard on the bare heights, the weeping and the petitions of the children of Israel; because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten the LORD their God.
VERSE 22. Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backsliding. “Behold, we have come to you; for you are the LORD our God.
VERSE 23. Truly help from the hills, the tumult on the mountains, is in vain. Truly the salvation of Israel is in the LORD our God.
VERSE 24. But the shameful thing has devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
VERSE 25. Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. We have not obeyed the LORD our God’s voice.”
JEREMIAH
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.